October, Tip of the month...
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This month... you'll get some winter related info about winterizing your auto.
The snow and cold are coming, with a little
forethought, it can be a
little easier to cope with,
especially if you are doing trips.
The first place to start is know your auto, know what it likes or dislikes in the winter months. How dependable is it at starting at different temps. How low of temp can you go and still count on your auto starting. When and how long should you plug in or warm the engine before trying to start it. Know the quality of your tires !
Below is a list of things to do to your auto before heading out...
* Check your battery and belts.
* Check your tires, are they suitable for the conditions you are driving in.
* Put in winter weight oil in all the right places.
* check your anti-freeze, make sure its good for the temps where you live. A special note about working with anti-freeze, this green liquid is very TOXIC, be very careful not to spill any. If you do, please clean it up . Anti-freeze will KILL your pet if they drink it. To them its a sweet smelling liquid.
* check your headlights and taillights.
* find your winter front, put it on... a winter front is generally a piece of fabric that snaps to the front of your auto to keep the cold air from cooling your radiator too much, thus there is no extra heat for the interior of your auto where you sit.
* If you live in place where you can plug in your auto to warm it up, then make sure that your battery and oil heaters work, and if you use a water circulating pump, make sure it's functional. Check all your cords for frays or breaks, maybe get an idiot light for the end of the cord to make sure you are getting power to all those heaters.
A
cord with idiot light.
Everyone knows there is list of stuff you should always carry in your auto for winter driving, so here it is....
* road flares
* extra clothing, gloves, boots, hat, coveralls...
* flashlight
* tow rope
* shovel
* extension cord, if you want to plug in at work
* Heet, gas line treatment
* sand bag, for extra weight, or to throw on the ground
** Patience **
* extra belts
* jumper cables
* ice scraper
* tire chains
* candle, matches
* small amount of food
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Now its time to start that beast, its -40 f, and you left your gloves in the truck last night...
****Hopefully by the time it is this cold you will have a good idea on how long you should be plugged in at night to start at these temps, which would be all night, in case you wanted to know. If all systems are working as planned, your auto will make some sounds to let you know that, yes, it really is -40 out there and its cold too. You will also notice that your seats are rock solid, the clutch pedal takes a lot of pressure to depress , you can't turn the radio knobs, and if you didn't remember to leave it in neutral (manual trans), it's a real battle to get it there now.
You turn the key, the sound you hear coming from the engine is something like a mixer trying to mix cold peanut butter and ice cream together. YUK. Well, you know you are a little early to try and start, so let it warm up a little longer. Things you can do while waiting for it to turn over;
* call your work to tell them you going to be late
* go back inside, make another pot of coffee, drink pot of coffee...
* try to start vehicle... only this time it starts. :)
The wait is not over yet, now you have to let that engine warm up a bit, at -40, I will let my truck sit and warm up for at least 30 minutes, and sometimes much more...
If you were smart and backed in the night before, you won't have to back up first thing in the morning, which is sometimes hard to do, and is also hard on your transmission and cv boots. Tires also make driving fun on those really cold mornings, -45 and colder, the flat spot from parking stays that way for a while when you first start driving, until they warm up a bit. Now you're off to go and do all those life related things.
** If you have a heated garage to park in, disregard all this starting info 'til it's time to drive home after work.
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**Now what about being out on a trip away from power to plug in and its -40. To heat up your auto is a little more of a challenge...
You can use a weed burner, which is propane tank with a hose and torch, along with a chunk of stove pipe to keep the flames away from your auto. This is a good way to get alot of heat to the engine fast. Put a sleeping bag or blanket over the front of your auto to hold the heat in better. Check it often so you don't burn your truck. A MSR camp stove , or any camp stove works also, but requires constant attention as you are putting a flame directly under your engine. Another common heat source is charcoal from the BBQ, but also, this is a flame directly under your truck, so pay attention so you don't burn it up.
Some considerations, propane doesn't flow very well past -40, white gas is also very hard to get going at these temps as well. Have a plan.... Also, diesel engines will not start at these temps...
*** Things to do while waiting for your auto to warm up ***
** shovel snow, load gear, check stove, load gear, check stove, finish loading gear, check stove, shovel snow, check stove, run in parking lot to warm up, chew on a high-calorie snack, check stove...
** Repeat for one to four hours or until vehicle starts.
And of course you planned ahead and parked in a manner that will make it easy to get out once you are ready to go.
Now you are ready to go and fully enjoy winter, have fun....